ABSTRACT
The newly built rich, modern, and prosperous Arab cities, exemplified by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Doha in Qatar, are now well integrated into the global economy with rapidly evolving new urban forms and culture. The Arab city is undergoing a massive transformation comparable to changes that took place in twentieth century while they were under foreign occupation or protection. This chapter describes two cities in particular, that illustrates the kind of stark division that is characterizing the urban region in the Arab world: Doha and Cairo. Doha is the capital of the tiny country of Qatar, which lies on a peninsula on the east coast of Saudi Arabia. Cairo is a big informal city with strips, just strips, of formality. The chapter analysis two case studies which show in unmistakable terms the widening gulf that exists between two cities in the region: Cairo as representative of the old order and Doha as the new Arab City.
